District outlines expanding student services, flags more students facing housing and mental-health needs

Chris Mann, director of student services for the Middleton‑Cross Plains Area School District, told the school board that his department’s work “is to increase access to learning” by removing barriers so students can attend and learn.

The presentation on the 2024–25 school year summarized rising needs across basic supports, social‑emotional learning and mental health. Staff reported an increase in students applying for the free and reduced‑price meal program, a “drastic” increase in students identified as experiencing homelessness (the district reported the current year’s count at about 25 so far), and roughly 27 students identified as unaccompanied homeless youth.

Mann said the district is relying on multiple tools and partnerships — including the Dane County Youth Assessment and a social‑emotional screener (SSIS/SSELB) given to fourth, seventh and ninth graders — to identify needs and target supports. “When we think about student services, I think the easiest way to summarize is that we want to increase access to learning,” Mann said.

Amy Poole, families and transitions coordinator, told the board that homelessness identifications are often families “doubled up” with friends or relatives or living in motels, and that entering shelters in Dane County is “incredibly difficult.” Poole emphasized that federal McKinney‑Vento protections require immediate school enrollment even when proof of residency or immunization records are missing, and that the district must share transportation costs when students remain enrolled outside their attendance area.

Catherine Jackson, a school psychologist, described the district’s screeners and follow‑up process. The SSIS screener flags students with internalizing or externalizing concerns; flagged students receive an individual interview and student‑services staff determine whether an in‑school intervention, small group (for example, Bounce Back or CBITS), or referral to outside services is appropriate. Jackson said many flagged cases do not receive in‑school interventions because students are already connected to outside care, families decline services, or the screener produced a false positive that is resolved in the interview.

Staff also described suicide‑risk assessment (SRA) data. The district reported the highest counts of SRAs among ninth graders, with tenth grade close behind. Mann said the district has added mental‑wellness check‑ins to freshman conferences and increased advisory lessons to improve early detection and adult connection. He noted the district uses the Columbia screener for formal suicide risk evaluation and safety planning when needed.

Health services coordinator Marsha Moe gave an overview of nursing services: the district employs seven nurses and ten health assistants; office visits increase at middle and high school levels; and a large portion of visit records were previously categorized as “no complaint listed,” a data gap the team is working to reduce.

Board members asked about workload and priorities. Bartlett Duran asked for a Pareto view — “what are the 20% of the issues that you’re spending 80% of your time on?” — and Mann and Jackson answered that behavior support at the elementary level and crisis response (suicide risk, students in crisis) at high school take a disproportionate share of time. Several board members thanked staff for their work and asked for trend comparisons over multiple years. Mann said the district has been collecting and analyzing this data since he joined and can break it down further by demographic groups and special‑education status.

The presentation also described the district’s expanded partnership with Children’s Wisconsin, which places therapists in every building to reduce wait times and transportation barriers and increase access to services in school buildings. Mann described the district’s use of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction mental‑health framework to organize a multi‑layered system of support (universal, supplemental, intensive).

Board members asked for follow‑up materials. Mann and his team said they will bring more longitudinal breakdowns by grade, demographic groups and earlier years and will continue work to tighten data collection in health visits. No formal action was taken; the item was presented for information and discussion.